Modern electronic copiers, printers, facsimile machines, etc. are capable of producing complex and interesting page images. The pages may include text, graphics, and scanned or computer-generated images. The image of a page may be described as a collection of simple image components or primitives (characters, lines, bitmaps, colors, etc.). Complex pages can then be built by specifying a large number of the basic image primitives. This is done in software using a page description language such as PostScript. The job of the electronic printer's software is to receive and interpret each of the imaging primitives for the page. The drawing or rasterization must be done on an internal, electronic model of the page. All image components must be collected and the final page image must be assembled before marking can begin. The electronic model of the page is often constructed in a data structure called an image buffer. The data contained is in the form of an array of color values called pixels. Each actual page and the pixel's value give the color, which should be used when marking. The pixels are organized to reflect the geometric relation of their corresponding spots. They are usually ordered to provide easy access in the raster pattern required for marking.
In the prior art, a copier, printer or other digital imaging system typically employs an initial step of charging a photoconductive member (photoreceptor) to a substantially uniform potential. The charged surface of the photoconductive member is thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document to selectively dissipate the charge thereon in selected areas irradiated by the light image. This procedure records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive member corresponding to the informational areas contained within the original document being reproduced. The latent image is then developed by bringing a developer including toner particles adhering triboelectrically to carrier granules into contact with the latent image. The toner particles are attracted away from the carrier granules to the latent image, forming a toner image on the photoconductive member, which is subsequently transferred to a copy sheet. The copy sheet having the toner image thereon is then advanced to a fusing station for permanently affixing the toner image to the copy sheet.
The approach utilized for multicolor electrostatographic printing is substantially identical to the process described above. However, rather than forming a single latent image on the photoconductive surface in order to reproduce an original document, as in the case of black and white printing, multiple latent images corresponding to color separations are sequentially recorded on the photoconductive surface. Each single color electrostatic latent image is developed with toner of a color complimentary thereto and the process is repeated for differently colored images with the respective toner of complimentary color. Thereafter, each single color toner image can be transferred to the copy sheet in superimposed registration with the prior toner image, creating a multi-layered toner image on the copy sheet. Finally, this multi-layered toner image is permanently affixed to the copy sheet in substantially conventional manner to form a finished copy.
With the increase in use and flexibility of printing machines, especially color printing machines which print with two or more different colored toners, it has become increasingly important to monitor the development process so that increased print quality and improved stability can be met and maintained. For example, it is very important for each component color of a multi-color image to be stably formed at the correct toner density because any deviation from the correct toner density may be visible in the final composite image. Additionally, deviations from desired toner densities may also cause visible defects in monocolor images, particularly when such images are half-tone images. Therefore, many methods have been developed to monitor the toner development process to detect present or prevent future image quality problems.
Developability is the rate at which development (toner mass/area) takes place. The rate is usually a function of the toner concentration in the developer housing. Toner concentration (TC) is measured by directly measuring the percentage of toner in the developer housing (which, as is well known, contains toner and carrier particles).
As indicated above, one benchmark in the suitable development of a latent electrostatic image on a photoreceptor by toner particles is the correct toner concentration in the developer. An incorrect concentration, i.e. too much toner concentration, can result in too much background in the developed image. That is, the white background of an image becomes colored. On the other hand, too little toner concentration can result in deletions or lack of toner coverage of the image. Therefore, in order to ensure good developability, which is necessary to provide high quality images, toner concentration must be continually monitored and adjusted. In order to provide the appropriate amount of toner concentration, toner usage is determined. Through the use of a toner concentration control system having a feed forward component and a feedback component, the toner concentration and toner usage are determined in order to adjust the toner dispenser to dispense the proper amount of toner for a particular job.
In a pure feedback control system for toner concentration (TC), perturbations in toner concentration will be sensed by an in-housing sensor (e.g., Packer sensor, which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,729). This approach is affected by considerable system transport delay. This results in inadequate control of toner concentration, particularly with frequently varying toner consumption.
However, toner concentration control can be greatly improved by knowing the customer usage in advance. This enables the toner concentration control system to add toner in a feed forward (FF) fashion as prints are made. Thus, according to the prior art, actual images generated by the raster output scanner for the customer were used to estimate actual toner usage. By summing the actual pixels written by the raster output scanner, a proportional amount of toner was dispensed in a feed forward manner. This reduced the load on a feedback portion of the toner concentration control system whose function of adjusting the toner dispensing to maintain the developed mass per unit area (developability) of images on the photoreceptor was, consequently, made to run with less spurious transient behavior.
Similar or even better results are desired in the control of the magenta, yellow, cyan and black separations of a full process color xerographic device using image on image technology. Image on image technology (IOI) is the process of placing successive color separations on top of each other by recharging predeveloped images and exposing them. Unfortunately, there are large errors in the estimation of yellow, cyan and black toner usage. For example, yellow toner develops to a lesser degree on magenta than on a bare photoreceptor. Cyan toner develops to a lesser degree on yellow toner and magenta toner than on a bare photoreceptor. Black toner develops to a lesser degree on cyan toner, yellow toner and magenta toner than on a bare photoreceptor. This is due to a reduction of raster output exposure through scattering in passing through developed toner layers on the photoreceptor. The reduced light exposure results in a reduced development field, and thus a reduced developed mass compared to the bare portion of the photoreceptor.
Consequently, there is a need to provide a method and apparatus for minimizing the impact of the above problems to maintain the proper amount of toner concentration by dispensing the proper amount of toner to ensure high image quality.